A Texas mother is currently sought by authorities for allegedly leaving her two young children in a rundown home while she sent them meals from afar.
Rayshawna Deanna Dowdell, 34, is accused of leaving her 11-year-old daughter to care for her 6-year-old sister for over a month in their deteriorating home in Katy, according to court documents from Harris County.
A concerned individual contacted the police in late March, reporting that her mother had been missing from a local park for an “extended period” and that her children were staying home.
Investigators later determined the children were left unsupervised from February 17 to March 30. The older child was responsible for looking after her younger sibling, which included tasks like preparing him for school and ensuring he had something to eat.
It appears that Dowdell maintained some level of communication with her children remotely, even arranging for meals to be delivered via Uber Eats.
Text messages from the 11-year-old revealed feelings of “distress, fear, lack of food, and inability to continue caring for her siblings,” as indicated in the documents.
The police described the state of the home where the girls were found as “disorganized, cluttered and lacking food,” noting that the back door was left unlocked.
Dowdell acknowledged to authorities that she was away for a funeral but provided no digital evidence indicating to her daughters when she would return home, according to court filings.
Child Protective Services managed to place the children with an aunt, but that arrangement fell through after Dowdell reportedly argued with the guardian.
She then took the children away without informing anyone of their new location and evaded any welfare checks that were attempted, as per the affidavit.
Eventually, investigators located the two girls outside of Ohio.
As of Wednesday, Dowdell remains in custody, with her bail set at $50,000 for a felony charge of abandoning a child without any intention to return.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office has not responded to inquiries about her current whereabouts.
